


Fairy's Eyes and Sand Castles

by MateriaFlower1_1



Category: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VI
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Family, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 09:45:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14376192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MateriaFlower1_1/pseuds/MateriaFlower1_1
Summary: He'd said that she had 'fairy's eyes'. She'd noted that his castle was a 'huge Sand Castle'. A series of one-shots from the life and times of Terra and Edgar - 'Tedgar', starting from their first meeting and ranging to The End.





	1. 001. Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the first in my series of Terra/Edgar (Tedgar? Tedgar sounds good) oneshots. I hope you like them, and without further ado: enjoy!

_001\. Angel_

Darkness blanketed the scenery around her. The callous, jagged mountains to her left protruded in the ethereal moonlight and the usually verdant grass was dulled a sickly umber colour, seeming even more dead in the silvery light. Her eyes stared into the harsh shapes of the flickering orange fire in front of her, sparked by her own hand - her freakish power.

_What if I die? Will I go to heaven? Or... Hell?_

She sighed heavily, her eyes looking even lower to the ground. The fire illuminated her front, showing her red, embroidered dress and purple cloak that was gathered up on the ground around her. Her long mint coloured hair was curling in a disorderly fashion, but sitting softly against her narrow back, swaying with every blow of the stagnant wind.

_Am I a monster? Am I even human? Can someone like me ever be accepted?_

She didn't notice large footsteps that approached from behind her until they stopped right next to her. She looked up at the man, his long shadow darkening her view of his face, but left the heavy, royal blue coat cocooning his body untouched. She knew who he was by the steady tempo of his footsteps and the measured fall.

"Will I go to hell?"

The shadowy figure behind her let out an almost silent, rumbling chuckle that sounded closer to an uneven purr than Sabin's booming roar or Locke's silvery snickering. They came and sat next to her, his blue eyes still as piercing as ever.

"Should an angel go to hell?" He answered, as smoothly as freshly whipped cream. He tapped his chin in mock thought, humouring the naïvety in her worried pout for just a bit longer. "No, I do believe they belong in heaven. And if they don't - then you're the finest demon to ever see heaven."

"What... What about everything I... I..." she stuttered and retreated into herself, clasping her hands tightly over her heart and drawing her knees tightly to her chest. "That's happened." She finished in a voice carefully treading the line between a whisper and a silent mouthing. Even now, even after having come to terms with what emotions and love truly meant to her, in all its forms, she still was not fully able to verbalize her past atrocities.

"You didn't mean to do that. It wasn't your fault, it was that infernal clown." The man put his arms around her slender shoulders - his arms dwarfed her in size; he dwarfed her in size - and squeezed tightly, looking down at her with misted amethyst eyes, silently promising that even if the world left her side, he never would.

"But I still did it."

A silence followed her comment. She knew it. She knew he couldn't deny it. But when she looked back up at him, she saw two blonde eyebrows pulled together, and he was doing that thing with his lips again - where he bit it very slightly on the inside, like he was trying to stop himself from blurting something out.

"I think you should stay here, with us and with me. Then you can return to your flock of angels. I want to look at your fairy eyes for a long time yet" He said suddenly, squeezing her shoulder joint again, firm enough to be felt, but not so firm that it would cause any damage - that was the last thing they needed now. He alluded to the first nickname of his for her - for her iridescent eyes, and it made her feel warm inside.

She smiled at his comment, leaning into his embrace. She gazed into the fire once more, breathing in the sweet smell of burning wood. The flames didn't seem so harsh anymore, they seemed to take a soft shape, and every amber lick looked like a brief wave; the embers dancing across the night sky, not falling to their untimely doom at the end of a futile, transient life.

As the last of the wood burned under jovial flames, the man stood, offering her a hand like the gentleman, or rather, king, he was raised to be. She giggled as usual when he was overtly kind and gentlemanly. Taking his outstretched hand, she allowed herself to be pulled up and walked back to the ship, hand in hand, as the sleeping sun began to awake from its slumber, dyeing the sky a vicious, violent vermilion.

_Heaven or hell I don't mind, as long as he's here with me._

 


	2. 023. Hair

_023\. Hair_

Her hair was always a mystery to him. From even the first time she entered the same room as him, as soon as she entered his line of sight, he wanted to wrap the minty strands around his fingers and feel the soft silk quality of it and smell the undoubtedly delectable fragrance of it, but then he opened his mouth and it turned out that she was a mere mouse of a creature; a robotic husk of what was once there. And this polished, doll-like outside was just an illusion that blocked the broken inside.

Even later, when they'd reached Thamasa and were reunited, she still was a frightened little shell of a creature. It didn't help that he was a king and she was just shy of a decade younger than him, and the only man she'd looked up to in her short, sheltered life had just been brutally murdered. Brutally and unjustly murdered just beyond her fingertips. And yet, when her mint green hair with a hint of something teal was let down to flow in the gentle breeze, he couldn't help but stare, even if Sabin did tease him for it. He had never lusted after a woman like this before, and if he was honest, he was intrigued by the fascination and mystery she sparked in him; from her swirling azure irises to her soft rose lips and that luxurious mint green hair.

It was in Mobliz when he first got to feel her hair. He'd been ordered by Celes to try and persuade Terra to join them after she couldn't, although he couldn't imagine he'd have much more luck, to his disappointment. She'd still been a husk of her true self then, her eyes as frightened as a doe and her voice quavering like a reed in the wind. She'd been silent - too silent - as he'd talked to her, or at her, as it turned out. He'd reached out to her after she'd shaken her head no and averted her eyes, and his hand came to rest on her shoulder, her hair just brushing on the rough skin of the back of his rough hand. She had frozen solid then, her skin livening only slightly; and her neck spinning slowly, slowly, to face him. He moved his hand up, as slowly as the last snowflake falls, to rest among the mint green curls of gossamer hair.

"Will you come?" He asked quietly, looking deeply into her wide blue eyes under the drawn together eyebrows and above the pouting rosy lips.

She'd looked down and breathed in heavily. She took his hand in hers and turned her head to look out the window of her little room, at the children that she cared for as though they were her own.

She watched then play with Celes and Sabin and closed her eyes. She sighed heavily and shook her head, letting go of the hand she held in hers and looked away from him in shame. He'd been right, she didn't go with them that time.

But then next time they visited, she looked into his eyes and agreed to go with them, with a strong voice. She wasn't healed yet, but she was healing.

"You're coming with us then?" He'd asked her when they were finally alone, the others around Mobliz somewhere else.

"Yes." She smiled, "I have to protect my children." She looked out of her window as she had done before, and smiled as she watched the children play with all the others.

Edgar smiled, and hugged her, taking her by surprise. She was a lot smaller than he realised, and a lot thinner too, but she was everything he wanted. She wrapped her arms around him, and he felt her smile, and he felt her hair - the softy, shiny, mint green hair.

After the nihilistic clown had been beaten down from his celestial perch and there was no more danger clinging to their heels, they could all finally rest in peace - or the relative peace they could claim after that. They'd gathered at Doma, where Cyan was now ruling, and the celebrations were in full flow. But she was not merry. Her hand seemed to always clutch the makeshift necklace of the last piece of magicite she'd managed to salvage from her father's distant haven, and her eyes seemed to stare into the earth; unseeing, unfeeling. She looked dead to the world, and he would be damned if he couldn't do anything about it.

He found her alone, as usual, next to a wide window looking over the black, forested landscape of Doma. She was as sad as ever, and her eyes looked like two wilting irises; her hair devoid of any of that ethereal shimmer. She looked as though a part of her had died with the Espers, and perhaps a part of her had.

He reached out his hand and placed it on the soft, silken hair, hoping that even though he had no words for her, his touch could bring her the comfort that she'd brought him through his blackest nights and bluest days. And even though she didn't move to acknowledge him, the gentle, relaxed slope of her shoulders peaking through the lunging dip in her scarlet cape told him that his fingers threading themselves through her mint green hair would bring some peace to her tormented soul, for that moment at least.

She turned to him, after some time that Edgar didn't bother to count, and she smiled again. Her eyes glimmered in the moonlight like a tranquil lake full of lilies, and her skin had perked up and regained something of the ethereal glimmer that had attracted him to her so much. Her pink, plump lips pulled him in, and neither have ever looked back.

Years and years later, when the Ethereal Queen and the Valiant King sat side by side on the throne, he still loved her mint green hair, and the vibrant hair she'd given to their children. From their son's bright green hair, to their daughter's teal hair; he couldn't have asked for children anymore beautiful than they. Nor could he have asked for a better wife, friend, companion than her.

All because of his love of her hair.


	3. 027. Illusive

_ 027\. Illusive **  
** _

Terra was scared, irrationally, every time Edgar couldn't be found. She feared that he was off with women like Sabin had told her he used to be. There were so many women around the castle – it was such a large place, a huge sand castle in the desert – that she just looked plain, and she felt like she'd fit in with the servants easily. She was small, 'like the runt of the litter' one lady had said, and she was painfully thin. Her hair was perhaps a bit thinner than she might've liked, but it wasn't _thin_ per say; she was very pale, no matter what she did, and her lips were thinner than almost all of the ladies in their beautiful silk dresses. She wouldn't be surprised if he chose others over her.

Edgar had left, once again, for South Figaro, and Terra was left alone in the castle. She couldn't complain; she couldn't. She'd had nowhere to go and Edgar had graciously allowed her to stay. It wasn't like they were _married_ or anything, it's just that she valued him above most, perhaps more than she should (read: she couldn't bear to think about the day he'd probably _have_ to marry another), and he'd made it obvious that he did care for her a lot too. It's not like he was bound to her in any way, but she still hoped that he would not go back to his womanizing ways. Sabin was the only person who kept her sane here, along with the staff whom she'd made friends with. And Sabin only visited occasionally, but thankfully he was here now.

"You don't need to worry, Terra." Sabin said to her after he'd passed her in a corridor that she'd inadvertently been moping in. She looked up at him with wide eyes and cocked her head to wordlessly ask why. "I doubt he'd go off with a random girl in South Figaro, he hasn't done anything like that since he met you."

Terra raised her eyebrows and her lips curved into a smile. "Really?" She gasped. Sabin nodded his head.

"That, and I doubt there are any women left in South Figaro."

"Sabin!" She jumped up and pouted at him, huffing and leaving to go back to her room, swishing her cape in defiance.

"I was only joking Terra!" Sabin called after her with laughter in his voice. She relaxed her hunched shoulders and let her arms fall to their sides from their previously crossed position. Even though she knew he was probably joking, it still bothered her because deep in her heart, she dreaded that it might be true.

Three days later, he came back.

Everything seemed normal, no one was acting out of the ordinary. And the fear that seemed to strangle her had finally sunk back into her stomach for the next time he left. It was frankly a pitiful cycle to be in.

That evening, Edgar came to her room. It wasn't unusual for him, yet this time… something seemed strange.

"Terra." He announced. Her body froze. Something seemed off. She put the pen back in the ink pot, making sure not to smudge the letter she was writing to little (although, not so little anymore) Relm and turned around from her desk to face him. She plastered a smile on her lips and greeted him graciously as she'd been taught by Cyan all that time ago.

"Yes, Your Highness. What's wrong?" She could see his frown deepen as he sat across the room from her. She never usually called him that, but she felt that something was wrong; very wrong.

"Sabin told me you were worried."

She knew it! She knew it was about that! She never should've said anything at all, she couldn't bear to think how hurt he'd be over this! She felt the blush inspired by shame run rampant across her face as she looked down to the ground; anywhere but him. Silence pervaded the air and Terra felt awful. Usually, he would be the first one to say something, but now there was just nothing.

"I… I just worry about nothing. It's nothing." Terra stuttered, still not looking at him, and feeling the fear bubble inside her.

"I know what you said, Terra." He sounded so angry. She should just pack her bags and leave now, she clearly wasn't welcome any longer. Not from the people in the castle, not from the women here, not even from the weather! And now, not from Edgar either…

"I'm sorry." She whispered, twisting her hands together on her lap as she swivelled away from him on her chair.

"It's not your fault, it's mine." Terra's eyes widened in shock as he said that, lifting her head to face him. "I know I have a bad reputation, and that's my fault. But it's barely true, and it's not true at all anymore."

How could he say that? It wasn't his fault at all, it was her fault for presuming anything.

"But Terra, You've got to trust me. You know that I love you, and I would never do anything like that to you." Terra smiled, it was the kind of reassurance that she needed despite herself.

"I.." she needed to say it, she _had_ to, "I love you." She said in a voice just above a whisper that she knew he could just hear. He smiled at her, and crossed the room, coming to kiss her; a kiss that stole her breath, her heart, her mind.

"I'll speak to the council tomorrow. I'll talk about making our relationship official. Would that make you feel better?" He asked, keeping one hand on her soft cheek.

She gasped, what did he mean by that? "Do you mean… marriage?" She asked so confused that it showed in her voice.

"Not if you don't want it. You could just be… my betrothed. It'd just be my way of promising you that I love you, and that I only want to be with _you_." He explained, standing upright and removing the hand from her face.

Terra thought about it and nodded, watching as he left the room and shut the door gently behind himself. She would never be the best person, nor would she be perfect; she was so emotionally damaged from the first sixteen years of her life that she was just getting to grips with it. And she still didn't understand why Edgar, the King of the most powerful country in the world, would want her out of all the women in the world; but the comfort she got from his promise was indescribable. Even though she knew that from time to time he would still be illusive, he would always come back to her, and only her.


	4. 009. Cliché

_009\. Cliché_

The story always seemed to everyone else, when it was stripped to the skeleton, the clichéd tale; the man saves the woman, and they marry, living happily ever after. But in reality, I know that she saved me.

Before I really started to become involved with the returners actively, I was living a life fit for the king I was; a life full of debauchery and excess. I took advantage of every and any woman I had, and I never looked out for any other than myself apart from Sabin - and even then I didn't really care much for myself. I'd thrown myself into women after father had died more than I had done before, whilst Sabin threw himself into his training. I was paying the price for my previous behaviour.

And this is where the cliche comes into place. I remember that before she came into the room, I'd been bored out if my mind, wondering if Locke really would come, and how many papers I would have to fill out. But they did come, to the delight of my boredom. She was an unremarkable thing at first; standing at a below average height and looking down at the floor with a melancholic look in her sad, round, indistinguishably coloured eyes. She was all long, thin limbs and her mint green hair contrasted with the pale lucidity of her skin; she was an otherworldly looking woman. At first, she'd struck me as beautiful, but she'd brushed me off with a doe-like voice and crumpled together eyebrows. It'd taken an aside conversation from Locke later that week when we were far out of the comforts of Figaro for me to realise that she might be more than a child-like adult; that she had been through a harsher life than any of them could imagine. I'd seen her talk with Sabin, whom she'd clicked with, and talk with Locke, whom she'd formed a brotherly bond with, when I saw her smile for the first time. Her entire face lit up, like I'd never seen before, and her eyes, a hypnotic blue-amethyst iridescent colour, gained a shimmery sparkle to them as her cheeks gained a rosy hue and made her look more angelic than I could ever have imagined. Throughout all my years at court, all my years meeting women from all over the world, I'd never seen one smile like that and still appear so graceful and elegant. I knew that something in me was shifting, and I knew that when I returned to Figaro I wouldn't be the same man - I knew that I had changed - but now I had changed in regards to women too.

When we hit the next town, I didn't stop to admire all the passing women, and in the next one after that, I didn't go to the bar and leer in the corner. Instead, I sat with Terra, the otherworldly woman, and tried to make her smile that brightly with me. She was reserved at first, but I remained determined. She was all I needed in life I decided, no matter how cliched it sounded, and I would get her.

It only took until the end of the world had come and gone that she smiled at me like that.

We were in Mobliz, after she'd finally agreed to come with us, and I was swarmed by the children who recognised me from some of the stories 'Mama' had told them. So I decided to tell them a story too. I told them of how a prince from a far-off desert was confused and losing himself in his desert until he looked up and saw the angel appear in the sky to him, and how she'd showed him the way home. It was horribly cliched, but it worked. And when all of the children were settled, I looked up to see her there with that smile on her face that lit up her entire body.

"You know, they like the stories about the King of the Desert." She mentioned when they left the bunker-house and had gone to see the stars in the cool outside.

"I should hope so. I've always been lucky in regards to deserts." I replied, not helping the hint of the old me that came through in my grin.

She looked up at me and stared at me, in me, with her swirling, shimmering, eyes. "I mean it. They always asked to visit him, no one else."

"How kind of them." I bit my lip on my internal war; years of kingship had taught me to keep anything and everything private. Even if it was to the girl who appeared to have saved me from myself.

When it was all finally over, I couldn't think much about how we were finally free from a nihilist's grasp, rather that I didn't know when or if I'd see her again. She'd saved me, and now I was letting her go. I supposed that this was the classic three-act-structure; this being our conflict, and my hopes stretched out for seeing her in again in the third act. But I was being too sentimental. My job was in Figaro, and I would go back to my home and rebuild. But I had definitely changed. I didn't attend all the parties as I used to. I didn't chase after every woman who gave me her attention. I cared for myself, as much as I did for Sabin. It seems I had been saved from myself, just in the nick of time, by my own heroine, despite her unlikely form. No matter how cliched the story was.


	5. 042. Arranged Marriage

_042\. Arranged marriage_

She could hear the whispers. She knew what they were saying behind her back.

"She's just another floozy, she'll be gone as soon as she's got her money."

"She's only here so that the King can have children."

"They'll never share a bed, she's just to hold a place. A trophey."

"She's too weak. And ugly."

"She's a monster; a half-breed."

She knew they hated her. It didn't help that Edgar was always busy, what with the wedding coming up soon and Figaro being one of the largest kingdoms. They all thought that she was merely there as an add-on; something expendable.

Four years after Kefka had been removed from this world, the orphans Terra had been caring for persuaded her that they were old enough now to stay on their own. They left Mobliz with watery eyes and spread around the world, vowing to meet come spring, summer, autumn and winter every year. Even though Terra was saddened at the loss of all of her children, she realised that some of the older children had wanted the freedom, and the younger children had wanted the same too. Even though the youngest of the children was just twelve, she had faith in them to look after each other. She knew that some had family to track down and that others just wanted to explore.

And so, with no children to look after and nothing to anchor her anywhere, Terra travelled the world to visit her friends.

She visited Shadow and Relm in Thamasa, paying her respects to the dear departed Strago, before moving to Doma and visiting Cyan and Gau. Terra drifted from city to city, visiting all those she'd met over the years, spending perhaps a year before she finally made her penultimate visit: to Celes and Locke, and their little daughter whom she met for the first time. Silver was her name, after her father's love of all things valuable. And with hair like gold and eyes like the brightest sapphires, Terra was sure that Locke couldn't be prouder of her.

Yet for some reason, seeing Celes and Locke together with Silver as a family awake something deep within Terra, some form of yearning and a deep desire for something more. Her dreams were filled with visions of her past adventures and a king she'd long since pushed out of her mind for the sake of her sanity. She wondered in her waking hours when she was talking with Locke if he'd married if he'd had children and was living out a familial life with a slight scowl, and to her surprise, she'd wondered it aloud. Seconds passed until Locke, smiling with a grin that bordered on a gleeful smirk, had replied 'no'.

Two days later she'd been put on the road to Figaro.

He'd been surprised at her sudden visit, as she'd forgotten to send a message ahead. But there was a slight look in his eyes, a hurt, that Terra was too ashamed to meet. She'd kept in contact with every one of her companions even if she hadn't seen them, but not him. The only time they'd met was at dear old Strago's funeral and even then she could barely formulate a sentence to say to him. What could she say? That him being there made her nervous? Or that she felt on fire every time she saw him?

Relm had told her that she was emotionally constipated back then, and she was right, in a way. Terra had no idea how to react to emotion.

Terra had ended up staying at Figaro longer than she'd expected. But then again - how long had she expected to stay? She'd no where to go. The two of them had grown exponentially closer, he spent all of his time when he wasn't ruling the country with her, and she lived for the time they spent together; the ladies at 'court' hadn't exactly taken to her - she was a monster, a remnant, a poor girl who the King had taken in in return for 'services' to him. It made her sick, and the sound of their voices made her shudder. Sabin had claimed they were just jealous, and that they were just overstuffed wild birds, waiting to be shot down, but Terra disagreed. They seemed to have everything, beauty, power, money and a stable future - something she lacked. If anything, she should be jealous of them! Sabin had just laughed her off and had got back to his training, a knowing grin gracing his face all the while.

And so it came to be, that after three months at the castle of Figaro Terra felt as though she'd outstayed her welcome. The women had maintained their low-level rudeness, and she'd merely become an increasingly sticking out bolt in the smooth operating engine that was Figaro. She'd told Edgar of her plans the night before as he came to visit her unannounced and found her packing her measly bag of belongings. A kind of sheen had overtaken his widened eyes and he'd placed one rough hand on top of hers with a careful tightness that she knew wouldn't let her go. He'd tried to coerce her out of it, but she'd told him that she merely felt like a sore thumb here, that she had no place, not any future. Even if she didn't know where on earth she'd go. Perhaps she'd visit Relm and Shadow in Thamasa? She'd read in a disgruntled letter from a more emotive Shadow that Gau had been visiting in increasing amounts and that if she could 'get him to stay at least five days away at all times' then he'd be pleased. And possibly thankful.

Yet Edgar refused to move from his position, pulling her to sit and his bright cyan eyes narrowing slightly that she knew was an indicator for him thinking something through so finely that there could be no problems in it.

"Marriage."

She'd looked at him with a cocked head and pulled together eyebrows when he said that. 'Who was getting married?' She'd asked herself. Locke and Celes were already married. Relm and Gau couldn't be - they were only young! Perhaps Sabin?

But when she expressed these thoughts, Edgar chucked and shock his head.

"No. Us. We could get married - in an arranged marriage. It would work for both of is."

Terra was stunned, her mouth hanging open in what she was sure was an undignified manner. She wasn't sure where to start; she was excited, anxious, shocked and get slightly hurt - was she only a beneficial asset to him? She'd asked him, and once again he'd smiled at her.

"Of course not. I really do... Care for you. I would be honoured if you'd think of this as more than just a nice agreement too."

"You don't love me." She said quite suddenly, and without meaning to, but she stuck to her words in the tense seconds that followed suit - both Celes, Locke, and any number of others, _even Shadow_ , had told her that you couldn't have a true marriage without love. And yet here she was, talking with the man that according to Locke it 'sure sounded like' she loved, and he couldn't say the same.

"I-I" he started, but she knew he wouldn't finish. Not in the way she wanted. She stood, suddenly overtaken with a strange icy anger, and turned away from him, folding her arms about her body as if to reassure herself that she wasn't alone, and spoke with words as clipped as she could manage that she wouldn't go and that she'd get back to him. She heard him shuffle to the door and pause, as though expecting her to say something, and then left.

And she cried.

In the days following, she'd mostly kept to herself, inadvertently raising some unwanted suspicion, and even some concern from the ever kind-hearted kitchen staff whom she'd befriended, and wrote letters furiously to all the friends she had and had trusted enough to seek counsel with on this.

Edgar hadn't been to see her at all.

And after a week, when she'd been inundated with a flurry of concerned, shocked, and somewhat angry (at the King) letters, that all expressed the same message, she knew what she must do.

She would accept the offer - if he loved her.

It was Terra who went to his room this time, and thankfully he was alone - she didn't know much about his habits with women, but she'd heard that it wasn't as bad as it used to be, not now. She hoped that it had stopped altogether.

He looked almost ill when she saw him, his eyes somewhat sunken and his skin paler than it should've been. But no matter, she kept up her icy armour with relative ease. Perhaps this is why Celes had stepped into the role of the Ice General without complaint - it was a protective wall from the world of hurt that existed outside.

"I have an answer." She declared with a brittle voice, and saw him sit up rather more straight than he had been before. "But only if you can answer me one thing."

He'd asked her what it was with a voice that seemed to be restraining some premature relief.

"Will I be turning myself in for a loveless marriage? Because if I am, there are many men who will have me instead. I could go on the street and find something similar." Exactly as she'd been advised. And from the flash of hurt and jealousy she'd seen in his eyes, it seemed to be working.

"No." He finally said, after millions of seconds of silence.

"Then say it. Please."

"I.. I love you, Terra."

The relief flooded into her veins and she smiled, dropping her frosty act and throwing herself into her arms, even if it was uncharacteristic of her.

"Then yes, I will marry you." She said with eyes watering out of something she knew for certain: joy. "I love you."

So here she was, in a castle full of potential enemies, that she finally understood why they were jealous, as Sabin had said not three months past. Later in the day her friends and children would begin to arrive, and the next day, they were to be wed.

And for a reason she could not quite place, she was far too anxious for it.

The soft, white fabric felt foreign on her skin, along with the strange powders and creams on her face and the jewellery and such in her hair and on her skin. The sight that she was greeted with in the mirror too was a far cry from the dirty, hollow, girl she'd come to know on her journeys in the years gone by.

She could vaguely hear the sounds of Relm, Celes and Katarin fussing around her, and two maids - Mary and Marie if she remembered correctly - quietly bustling around to make sure that not one thing was forgotten. Although, from the looks of the castle this morning, and the smile that Edgar had held when she saw him this morning, nothing would be forgotten. Not even the magicite shard necklace she'd managed to safely nuzzle under her dress.

And all too soon she was in Setzer's arm, walking down the aisle. It was strange, and she couldn't say if she felt anything exactly towards the sensation, but she could feel the burn of the spectators' eyes. She realised that Figaro had a lot of ties, but never did she realise that there were quite _this_ many. Regardless, this was an arranged marriage from all outward appearances, and it would stay one no matter what. The last thing that they both needed was for the complications that would undoubtedly come from a chosen love match.

The vows were taken and before long, she was no longer merely Terra Branford, but Queen Terra Reina Figaro of the Figaronian Kingdom, the husband of King Edgar Roni Figaro and the rightful mother of all Future Kings. It was an awfully long title for what she really was: a wife. Not that she minded of course, she was more than happy to become Edgar's wife, but about the future kings? Well, only time would tell.

But for now, all she wanted to do was bask in this 'arranged marriage', even if it was a thinly made façade. Who said that arranged marriages were bad anyway?

 


	6. 029. Home

_029\. Home_

After waking up from what felt like a seeing, waking coma of sixteen years, I was so confused. All these new faces, these new concepts, they were difficult for me to process. Locke was the first person I met, and he was kind and cared for me - it was so unusual that it confused me. He was talking about his home, Kohlingen, on the way to Figaro Castle. He said he loved it there, that he felt at peace with himself. When I asked him why he wasn't there now, he fell silent and his face paled slightly. It got me thinking for myself, about where my home would be. I didn't know who I was nor what I was - just that my name was Terra Branford, I was sixteen, and I had a magical power that only a few left in the world had. I was special, but I was a monster.

I couldn't find an answer, and I didn't have time to ask for an answer until we were far from the hot, stifling desert surrounding the cool Figaro Castle - in Thamasa.

General Leo... How I missed him. He was only just gone, and I was more confused and hurt than ever. He made me feel safe, but now he was gone. He wasn't my home, but I knew him well - better than any other person in the entire world. He was like a father and a friend, and I couldn't comprehend that tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, he wouldn't be near me, to protect me, nor anywhere else in the world. General Leo wasn't my home, but I was more determined than ever to find out where, or what was. So I sat down with Locke in the large airship the Blackjack, after hearing the amusing tales they'd been through to get it, and I asked him what home truly was.

"Home?" He asked, slightly taken aback, learning back in the spindly, wooden chair he was sitting in. "Well, I suppose it's not just the place you came from, but the place you feel safest in... What's the phrase again? Ah, 'Home is where the Heart is.' Yeah, that's it."

"Home... Is where the heart is?" I repeated. I understood the phrase, but I still didn't know where my heart was, how life was with a heart. What it even felt like to have one. I was so lost. "I'm confused."

"Oh yeah?" He asked, tilting his head to the left slightly with a wry smile. His eyes darted past me briefly, at something behind me, and his blue eyes grew sharper. Shimmering, they seemed somehow more alive.

"How do I know where my heart is?" I asked as earnestly as I could, leaning forwards over the wooden table marked by the wet bottoms of countless glasses.

He laughed at me, and I frowned slightly. "Oh Terra, you certainly know how to ask the questions that need to be asked." He made a sound with his cheek, looking up and leaning back in his chair. "Well, I suppose it's when you feel safe enough. You know, secure. A place where you feel safe enough for everything and anything." He looked fairly proud of his explanation and cut it off there, folding his arms over his chest. His eyes ghosted over the room, drinking in the sight of our friends, his silence unnoticeable among the dull roar of all the others talking at once.

I nodded, taking it all in. I still didn't have a home then - nowhere made me feel safe at all times, secure against the changing of the weather, of nature, and of people. "Thank you, Locke." I smiled at him, and got up, leaving for my room, the small, barren wooden cabin I now called my own. I felt a pair of eyes on me, but I shrugged it off. I knew it was probably Shadow - he'd warned me about 'Love', and what it could do to you. I should've taken his message more to heart, thought about that more first - the first of the emotions that had plagued my mind with confusion. I still didn't know what they all were, what they all meant. I was confused, but one thing was illuminated for me: I did not love anyone, and I did not have a home.

It was soon after that that the world ended. The Clown Kefka, who haunted my dreams every night I let him, tore the world apart for his own glee and I knew something then - I knew that what I felt for him was hatred, and malice. I knew that I didn't want to feel that way, and I didn't like it.

I awoke in Mobliz, amidst the crying orphaned children and the two love-struck teenagers trying to hold it all together. I sheltered them there, and I made a place for us all to live. I cared for them all, over the year that followed and I think that maybe, for a time, that was my home. We hadn't been fully operational for long when, to my surprise, they came in and tried to persuade me to join them. But I couldn't. I loved these children, and I wouldn't leave them. But next time they came, with many more of them in tow and the monster that his red us vanquished for good, I went with them. I asked Duane and Katarin promise to look after them, and I left, trying not to look back.

We visited Figaro later, when all but Locke and Strago were back with us, and I remember feeling a kind of worry that I'd never felt before for the children. But I felt some sense of safety around here; the cool palace in a bubble, surrounded by the hot, choking desert days and the freezing, biting, desert nights.

I was looking out over the desert in the moonlight, the candles flickering behind me and the wind flicking my cape and hair forward and backwards, rhythmically. I was so far in my thoughts, so far in my mind, that I was shocked beyond words when out of nowhere, Edgar suddenly kissed me. His lips were softer than I'd expected, and the way he kissed me, it sent a shiver up my spine, and stirred something deep within me. I closed my eyes and let him lead me, falling deep into him. I even /moaned/ into his lips, to my slight horror, and he pulled back. I thought he was angry with me, but he looked at me with more lust and desire than I'd ever seen before. He leant in to kiss me again and again, and eventually, we moved backwards, barely making it into his room. I knew about his reputation, but I cast it aside as he cast my clothes aside. I was too caught up, and I felt something I'd never felt before. I felt hot all over, and energetic and electric, and I felt safe and secure at the same time. Despite my nervousness at being bare before his appreciating, piercing sapphire eyes, I felt like I was at home. He did things to me, which I'd never imagined, not even after living with Katarin for a year and knowing Celes. I forgot all my propriety, and that our friends were just close by, and I felt safe in his arms.

After that, out relationship returned to normal during the sunlight hours - as normal as it could do. I felt it difficult to make eye contact with him, but I did it to my best ability. I thought he seemed distant, but I convinced myself that that was just my now-skewed view of our relationship. We acted as normal, and Celes was the only one to pick up on anything.

"I can hear you two at night, you know." She said suddenly, when I was visiting her in her cabin, so we could organise equipment between ourselves - what with our similar abilities. I froze in what I was doing, my face not sure whether to hear up or drain of all colour.

"Don't worry, I haven't told anyone, you might just want to keep it down. Relm and Gau are only young after all. And Sabin has a heart of someone that young anyway." She teased, looking at me through narrowed crystal blue eyes with raised blonde eyebrows. Oh, what I would give to look like her! "But seriously, I would never have expected you two together - but I'm happy for you. As long as he isn't just using you." She warned ominously, tapping into my own unconscious fears. I'd never asked him, and I didn't want to. I felt at home when I slept in his arms at night; I didn't want that to go away.

"Oh, and you might want to go easy on how frequently you do it - I don't think we have room for a baby on here, and we can't afford to loose our best magic caster. And Setzer would go crazy." She laughed with a hint of teasing in there, and I dropped the armour I was carrying from my arms. I'd... I had never, ever though about that. Her words worried me, but I nodded mutely as I gathered the items back into my arms, and she looked at me with examining, as I left the room. I didn't know what to think; having a baby, and his at that, made my heart leap, but I still hadn't sorted myself out yet. I was still coming to terms with love, and I'd only recently concluded where my home lay. I had no room for anyone else in my life, let alone a baby. I worried she'd tell others, or tell Edgar.

But soon enough, it was all over, and I was back in Mobliz. I said goodbye to him, and I committed the feelings I'd experienced to memory, but something pulled in resistance at it. And when I went to sleep that night, I didn't feel the familiar feeling of safety, of joy, and of happiness. I was so ashamed that I willed all feelings away for a week. I felt so uncertain, so out of it. I felt like being sick every morning, and I was sometimes, but I also felt like crying and just typically morose. Katarin and Duane helped me with the children as much as they could, but their baby was broaching on two now, and she was becoming mischievous. The children themselves were well, some of them were fifteen by then. They could take care of each other - I felt so out of place. I felt like I didn't belong there, like I belonged in another place entirely. I had an idea where, but I didn't know if that was a good idea or not. I felt so confused, once again. I imagined him feeling the same, feeling out of the loop and miles from where he should be. I hoped that was the case. I wanted to go, but I couldn't - there was so much to do.

Katarin ushered me to go, to take a break after only a month. I agreed, reluctantly, and Setzer was there to pick me up, along with Sabin, Celes and Locke. Everyone else was still so busy with rebuilding their lives and forging new ones. I didn't blame them - that's what I felt I should be dong too. We arrived in the sandy kingdom of Figaro two evenings later, and I don't know quite what I expected. But when I followed Sabin and Locke and Celes into the throne room, I didn't expect to see him there, with another woman by his side. I'm not sure what came over me, but I felt so angry and sad and betrayed that I could barely keep my emotions in; I struggled hard against the tears. Celes was the one to notice my emotional battle, and excused the two of us on the condition of 'being fatigued'. Sometimes being a woman really helped.

She took me aside and tried to rationalise everything, but I was too overcome to notice. She told me how his eyes had widened at seeing me, but I couldn't believe her. She tried to tell me that I was only tired, that it would all be okay once I'd slept through to the morning. But I wasn't so sure. I was defiant in my certainty. I thanked her all the while, and left her to explore the vast castle myself - to find that balcony it'd all began on. I wandered through rooms, fuller and more lively than they'd been before, until finally, upon finding the winding staircase that'd taken me up to the rooms before, I made my way there. I knew that he probably wouldn't want me here, but I stayed anyway, looking out over the endless forest of sand, how silver it all was in the moon and starlight. How it glistened with the shifting of the clouds. My hair drifted around my shoulders in the breeze - I'd removed the red ribbon and was fiddling with it in my hands. I don't know how long I stood there for, but it must've been a while - the moon reached it's fullest point in the sky, and I was so tired. But I was alert again the moment I heard a door shut from somewhere behind me. I heard the door from his room to the balcony open.

"Terra."

I didn't say anything, but I heard him cross the stone balcony, and I felt him kiss me, just as he had before. All the hatred seemed to thaw and began to melt. I felt calmer, and safer.

"Terra, it was a misunderstanding," he painted breathlessly, holding his face near to mine, my lips swollen and wet, waiting for more. "She was just another princess of a different land, she was just leaving. I'm only faithful to you now." I was taken aback and looked into his piercing blue eyes, and saw no lie there. I kissed him, and before I knew it, we were on his bed again, his eyes and hands exploring my body, noting the changes that'd accompanied my return to normal, civilian life, without my magic. I felt safe again, lying in his arms. I felt at home.

The next morning, when I had to excuse myself during breakfast with a pale, it was Celes who noticed the symptoms, and Edgar who confirmed it with the subtly noted changes in my body.

We were married before the month was out. I'd found love, and I'd found my home.


	7. 050. Flower

_050\. Flower_

_Forget-Me-Not & Red Poppy_

Out of the two of them, I'd notice Celes first. I admired all women, and Celes was one of the most beautiful I'd ever encountered. No, not beautiful, but sexy. She exuded an air of confidence and iciness, and with her long blonde hair and longer still legs, she had the 'blue eyed, blonde haired' stereotype down to a T. Of course, I admired all women - but she was just one that happened to be there. She was Locke's anyway, (or rather, Locke was Celes') and she wasn't exactly my type. I still had to discover a woman who was quite what I wanted, who set my heart alight, by looking at her beauty alone in a way that Setzer described Maria, or Cyan about his recently deceased wife... I didn't think I ever would, for all my outward bravado.

It was strange, that one night, I should see her there. We were in Figaro, visiting after the world had ended. We still hadn't found Locke, and you could tell that the pressure was mounting on Celes. But that night, in the waning summer, she stood on the balcony that connected my room to the next, looking out at the vast, dark desert and the vague flickering lights of South Figaro in the distance. The moonlight was shielded by the half-ceiling over the balcony, and the candles flickered behind her, casting a warm amber glow all over her. Her hair, the minty green colour it was, occasionally flickered here and there in its red ribbon binding, and the light crimson cape was gently waving at the hemmed edges, here and there in the whims of the wind. Her face was sharply pointed, with dramatic cheekbones and a pointed chin, but it still managed to look soft, the near white skin nigh unmarked. Her nose was small too, and flicked up at the end, before her defined Cupid's bow and full, rosy lips. And her eyes, fairy-eyes I'd said, they shimmered in the cool light of the stars and the warm light of the candles, the iridescent amethyst-sapphire hue swirling as she stared out over the endless grains of sand.  
I felt my heart start to beat more than it usually did, the sound flip-flopping in my ears. I felt my breath shorten immensely, and my hands became slightly clammy, and the air was just too humid, more than on a hot summer's day.

I don't know what possessed me, nor why I did it then, but I took the three steps over to her and there, on the balcony beneath the moon and stars, backed by the candlelight and amidst the intertwining sheaths of ivy, I kissed her. She stood motionless at first, her breathing all but stopped as her body tensed. But slowly, she relaxed. And she kissed me back. She leaned into me, giving in to me. She moaned into my mouth before I'd really realised what had happened. I broke off from her, and looked into her eyes, the swirling, nigh unreadable eyes, and flicked my eyes to the plumped, dark pink lips, and kissed her again. I remember her looking so confused, and perhaps a bit scared, but excited and her eyes were slightly darker and filled with desire.

I woke up with her beside me the next morning.

I tried my best to stay away from her, from then on, but it was to little avail. We were put together in groups, and we slept next to each other at night, across the hall in separate cabins. She could barely make eye-contact now, and she always acted bashfully. But I'd found my type - her. Gentle and calm, yet exotic and vivacious, with hair the like I've never seen and the most unique eyes. She set my heart running whenever I saw her.

Only Sabin caught on, to my relief. I was watching her pick flowers one day, where there were some left, in Thamasa. She looked so peaceful, picking the blood-red poppies from under the Forget-Me-Not tree.  
"I see you have a thing for Terra then." He nudged me, speaking quietly with a slight smirk on his face.  
"More than a thing." I admitted quietly, looking at the blue flowers in the trees.  
"So, you love her?" He almost hissed, looking at me with wide eyes and higher still eyebrows.  
"Yes. Perhaps. Besides, she's my type." He grinned, passing the meaning between the two of us.  
"You finally found it? Took you long enough." He snorted, relaxing his position again.  
"Yeah."  
"I wouldn't mind her as a sister-in-law." He said as Relm ran over to Terra, Interceptor padding behind her like a small puppy.  
"What about being an uncle?" I asked, voicing my fears aloud. I'd always been in doubt since that night in Figaro, and I couldn't be too certain.  
"Seriously?" He raised a tired eyebrow at me and rolled his eyes. "Just like you to do that. No wonder she's been so pale lately."  
"Really?" I asked, banishing the doubt and the hope from my voice - just in case.  
He shrugged. "As for passing down my name, well, I thought it'd be a few more years. But yes, you can have it. And I suppose my middle name is forfeit too."  
"As is mine." I reminded him. Who knows - twins ran in the family. If there was anything to fear at all.

We were called in then, by Celes, who'd finished planning for Old Man Strago's rescue. Still, I fell asleep that night with Terra beside me.  
In the end, there was nothing to fear, three more months came and went and we fought Kefka. But two months after that... We married soon after, taking our places as King and Queen of Figaro, and she had a suitably long new name to fit her elevated status.

She was never a Celes, and she was never going to be - she wasn't blue eyed and blonde haired, with long legs and a sexy aura, but she was close enough to it for me. And with the Forget-Me-Nots in her hair, and the bouquet of red poppies in her hands before the white dress. She was more beautiful than Celes by leagues; she was everything I wanted, and more.


	8. 050. Eyes

_050\. Eyes  
_

_Innocence_

It was the depths of the night when I finally got to bed. I'd been working all (most of the) day, and it was late when I got to bed - past midnight at least. It was a fair climb to my tower too - through the main castle, up the back stairs, across a gallery, and up to my tower, opposite from Sabin's... And any future children's. That wasn't something I really wanted to think about, especially when I was this tired. But I was getting old, for a king, and the pressure on marriage was increasing. All the noble women though, they were fun to flirt with, but rarely to pursue. They were like some paintings: nice to look at, but you wouldn't want to see them every day.

When I finally clambered into bed, just about making it into my sleeping clothes, I collapsed into bed, and fell into a deeper sleep than I'd had in weeks. I can't remember much from that night, but I can remember seeing a figure, alone in the tempestuous snow of the North, in the middle of the crisp night, the starts shining down from above through the thin, wispy clouds. It was a woman, I realised after a while, a thin woman - young, with barely anything there. I knew that I was dreaming, however, when I caught sight of her hair - the mint green locks, curling down her back, tied up messily and nestled against her head, with some framing her face either side. Her skin was cool, pale and ethereal - white, with a slight glow to it; her nose was red in the cold, and he equally red lips issued clouds when she spoke. But her eyes, her eyes were what struck me. The amethyst hue drew me in, and the swirls of blue within them made them shine like the most precious jewel I'd ever seen. Every time she shifted even slightly, her iridescent eyes shifted in their colour every so slightly, but remained within the range of blue to amethyst. They looked like fairy's eyes.

I awoke before I could see anything else, but I knew then, that if I were to marry - it would be to her.

I was certain when, three days later, she appeared in my throne room, tailing uncertainly behind Locke. I forced myself to focus on the thief, but my thoughts and eyes shifted every time to the girl next to him. She struck me as rather a sprite-like figure; a modern day fairy, if you will. Her hair was slightly softer looking and more of a grey-mint green than the vivid green I remembered, but I preferred her in person. But I couldn't see her eyes, she was looking down at the floor - her whole posture was downcast and afraid; she appeared as though she'd just had her entire life taken from her.

It turns out that she had - more than I'd expected.

I finally saw her eyes not long after, and they were exactly as I'd remembered - amethyst and blue in colour, and shimmering like a butterfly's wings. She was broken though, in spirit, although she was gradually recovering. She reminded me of a mouse, or a doll - you had to be careful, lest you frighten her and she would retreat into herself. Her eyes would grow wide and soft then, and the colour would shine more brightly blue. But when she was angry, the purple came forth more than ever in her eyes - they would narrow slightly, and she'd pout and puff her cheeks out a bit. Locke loved to wind her up, the two were like brother and sister by then, and she certainly looked beautiful, even when angry. There was a certain beauty in anger, of how inhibitions were thrown out the window and all emotion came tumbling to the surface, no matter the form.

By the time we reached Narshe, she was beginning to rebuild her life - to rebuild herself. But that was about to be shattered, for now at least. She cried out as she began to react to the frozen Esper, her whole body glowing as she looked around in furious panic, eyes growing large and worried. I tried to call to her, to reach out, but it was no use - she was consumed by the mysterious form. I remember a brilliant flash of the bright light, before I could see again - and she was not there. In it's place, was an Esper, hovering just a step off the ground. It had a long, hair-like mane and fur of pure powder pink, soft as anything; purple hued lips and an angled face, with iridescent blue-amethyst eyes... Fairy's Eyes... Terra's eyes. I realised it was Terra, and before I could stop myself, I called out to her. She looked at me, and I saw the confusion in her eyes, only to be mirrored by mine. She was worried and panicked, and before I could say anything she shot off, like an arrow across the night sky.

It was the second time I saw her as an Esper, the third time she'd transformed in front of us all, that I truly understood. She stood there, amongst the children whom she cared for, and said in a clear voice that she'd join us. I was happy - overjoyed at that. I never took back what I decided the night that I saw her in my dream, and I didn't intend to now. She looked over at me, with the same ingenuous eyes that I'd come to know - to love, even. I realised that no matter the form, Terra was Terra. She always had the same ingenuous eyes that showed her softness, her innocence in the blue-amethyst, butterfly-wing like eyes.

The tower across from me in my Sand Castle no longer holds trepidation for me; it holds hope instead. Terra's eyes have never failed to make me speechless with their beauty, with the captivating iridescence and the swirling blue and amethyst hue. I've had many a dream about her since that first dream, and throughout them all, her eyes have never changed - they've just captivated me for years. To think that she lies next to me today, all because of a dream I had where her eyes entranced me before I even knew her, amazes me everyday I see her.

 


	9. Valentine's Day

_Valentine's Day_

I woke up to a dim room, the smell of sand, and the pounding reminder in my head of what today was: Valentine's Day. I'd been planning what to do today for a long while now, the thoughts fizzling away in my head first as a distant dream until slowly, they morphed into a feasible reality. And now, here was the day, and the tools for my idea were at my feet.

But first: I needed to get out of bed. That was generally a good way to start the day.

I dressed and washed and took extra care in my appearance; in making my hair look silky, in taking care that there was no stray oil or fluff on my clothes - the rich reds and blues they were. And finally, I left my room, joining my council for the customary morning meeting. Except for today, it was shorter, and I had a guest - my dear brother, Sabin.

You see, Valentine's Day was big in Figaro; we founded it, we spread it around the world. So we threw a ball for it, every year. And naturally, as king, I was expected to attend with my _loving wife._ Who did not exist. You see, the story of Valentine around here was that he was a heretic of some sort - I don't know what kind, it was a long time ago. He was jailed, and whilst in jail, cured a woman of blindness and the two fell in love. And on the morning of his execution, he left her a note signed 'Your Valentine'. It's such a sweet story that I try to forget it was an ancestor of mine who ultimately killed him.

Throughout the entirety of the council meeting, my mind was elsewhere; I was dreaming up all different outcomes for my plans; the good, the bad and, well, the awful... That made me cringe. It _had_ to go well, otherwise, otherwise... I'd have to think of another way to confess to her. And she was so fragile, so like a little dove, that I couldn't think of any other way to do this.

You see, each year, a woman is named the Queen of Beauty for the year. And I know _exactly_ who I have in mind for that, I just need to let my plan unfold. If everyone plays their part.

"...your highness?"

"Yes?" I blinked and replied, pretending I knew what they were talking about.

The room fell into silence, and a table of gawking faces turned to look at me oddly.

"Well, I think that the Queen of Beauty this year should be picked by the King." Sabin stepped in, saving me from a sticky fate. "After all, he _does_ need a queen of some kind." He grinned, getting a few chortles from some of the Councillors. I was torn as to whether I should thank him or scowl at him. I settled for neither, in the end, as we reached the end of the day's short agenda. After all, there were many things to get done for this evening, and it was approaching all too soon.

I had told Celes a day or two ago that she should delay Terra from getting to the ball too early; it would benefit her to attend a bit late, just this once. And as much as it went against the once Ice General's principles, she agreed and promised to delay her for 'five minutes, but five minutes only'.

Part of the ball requires dressing up, you see. Not in the 'dressing up as another' kind of way, but in the 'looking your best' kind. And so, I'd had a dress delivered for Terra. Granted, getting the measurements was a bit awkward, since my estimations weren't as good as they used to be, but they were safely delivered to the tailor a matter of days ago, and a beautiful dress had been delivered to her room, Relm informed me with a disconcertingly knowing wink. She certainly did grow up far too fast; the omnipresence of Gau worried me slightly - I didn't want to face Shadow's wrath if anything happened on my watch! The dress was the finest fabric; silky as the first petals of spring, apparently. The red and burgundy and golden hues were bound to emphasise her pale and creamy skin, and her hair and fairy eyes would certainly stand out. I couldn't wait to see her.

As of yet, however, she didn't know it was me who sent it. She didn't even know how deeply I felt for her, I think. She knew I loved her, but I don't know if she knew quite how much, you see.

But the ball was upon us, all too soon. I was getting too old to keep up my 'playboy' image, I felt weary as I walked down to the grand, golden marbled ballroom. I was never more thankful for Sabin's presence. Sometimes I even wondered if he would've been a better king than I. Almost certainly he wouldn't have earned himself, and by extension Figaro, such a womanising, drunkard reputation as I had. But enough time for self-pity, my plan was almost at hand!

When Sabin and I entered the golden-hued, shining, chandelier-lit room, it was more than half full - almost the entirety of the world's great and good had turned out, it seemed. Or perhaps that was just my nerves. I was far too old for this; I was behaving like a teenager. I felt like a teenager.

I'd opened the ball, and finally, when the music was starting, could I relax. Well, a bit. The Queen of Beauty was usually crowned at the beginning of the night, and the rest of the women spent that night riding on her coattails or glaring at her over half-empty glasses. But not tonight. No, tonight I had a different plan in mind.

You see, I'd given the announcers who stood stoically by the door a message: when Terra walked in, they were to give her a different title to merely 'Terra Branford'. And so when she arrived, looking even more beautiful than I'd imagined with iridescent eyes brimming with just contained laughter, trailing behind Celes and Relm, she wasn't called out merely by her name as the others had; she had a different name tonight.

"Terra Branford, Queen of Beauty."

Her eyes widened somewhat, and the laughter faded from them, replaced by confusion. In fact, the entire hall quietened - even the musicians stopped. And they looked at her, and watched as a pretty shimmering tiara was nuzzled in her shining, beautifully decorated mint green hair.

Some women reeled around me, in what I can only assume was awe at her beauty. I was struck dumb, until I saw Sabin give me his special smirk of approval. You always knew you'd done well when he did that.

I walked forward, heart beating furiously in my head (or maybe that was just the sound of my shoes clicking on the shining marble floor), and stopped in front of her, smiling at her wide eyes.

"May I?" I asked, holding out a hand, which she took gently with her delicate lily hands.

"Why am I this?" She asked, leaning into me to ask me discretely. Some people had started murmuring as we walked out to the dance floor, to partake in the customary dance between the Queen of Beauty and her King.

"Because I named you so." The music slowly picked up as we took our place. "Tonight Terra, you're my Queen."

She made a slight face at that - perhaps looking back on it, it did sound a little sleazy. "Just for tonight?" She queried, her eyes finally devoid of all shock as we began to dance, moving effortlessly as one.

"For longer, if you'd like." I suggested, looking away from her eyes.

I could feel her gasp slightly against my chest, and I looked back to see her blushing somewhat. Well, that's fair enough. At least my plan went off without a hitch.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Terra."


	10. 017. Naked

_017\. Naked_

This hasn't happened before. Not in front of him, at least.

Here they were in the middle of the desert, far out of sight of the castle and alone, with night fast approaching. She'd got angry, sad, confused and lost - and he couldn't see it. Eventually, it all just became too much. The letters streamed in from their friends; Locke and Celes were married, Cyan had made his peace with his ghosts, Gau had a family, Shadow and Relm were a family... And Terra had none of the above. They were all perfect, and she was fighting the demons that still wrestled inside. Clawing at her chest like a caged animal. Biting like a restless, like demonic butterflies. So she panicked, and fled, and then, when he found her alone, dirty and crying, she conjured fire. Bright like a firework, deadly as a sword's mortal edge. In just a blaze of a few seconds, her emotions tumbled out, along with any pent-up magic still remaining.

And now, she was naked.

Her body was still intact, she had somehow always been able to survive the singes that others hadn't, with her mint green hair all surviving. Yet her clothes hadn't. The shock of her fire made it dangerous, unwieldy, and the simple royal blue dress she had worn was now burnt scraps around her feet.

She looked at him desperately, with a wild look of fear shimmering over her amethyst eyes.

"Are you going to go back to how you were now? Are you going to leer at me, like you do with all the other girls?"

The sun was setting. He could see the outline of her body - far more shapely now that she's grown up, and was no longer a malnourished puppet-slave. Time seemed to stop. He saw marble-like white skin, the outline of round breasts, the dirty charcoal of the fire flecking her skin, long, long limbs... It all lasted a flash, and then he looked away. No doubt that image would haunt him for days, weeks, months, years to come, however long it took, and however much he wanted to leer, to kiss her, to have her... He didn't. He looked away, out over the sand dunes that he didn't recognise, and took off the heavy coat from around his shoulders, the only thing keeping him warm in the quickly fading desert heat. The sunset may be beautiful, but it also could be a deadly warning to find shelter.

He walked over to her, every step making sure to look away, every step a careful pad on the sand.

"Like I did. No more, Terra. I've changed."

He placed the coat around her shoulders, as tenderly as he could, and then pull it right shut. He looked into her eyes and saw the feral terror replaced with regret, and sadness, and pain.

"...I... I'm sorry." She whispered, soft as a breath of wind. "I was just... So angry."

"I know."

They stood in silence, looking into each other's eyes as the light of the sun faded. Then he tucked her head under his, pulling her into a tight hug - if for the heat, amongst other reasons.

The sun was almost gone against the purple sky when she next spoke.

"I should go." She said, not moving as she spoke, and Edgar felt the vibrate of her voice drum against his chest.

"Yes. We should head back to the castle, it's dangerous at night."

"No, Edgar." She pulled back, pressing a hand against his chest and pushing out of his arms. "I should go. Alone. I can't do this anymore. I'm not meant for this." She took several steps back. He stepped towards her, reached out a hand, but she only stepped back.

"Edgar Roni Figaro. Thank you..." Her eyes shined in the final light of the sun, and he didn't want to acknowledge what he thought he saw swimming in them. "Goodbye, my King."

She turned, she took a step, and another, and another... And she left. She walked it into the desert night, and she never looked back. The night swallows you if you don't know where you're going.

He couldn't stop her, no matter how far he reached out.

All Edgar ever had to remember his fairy girl by was the few, naked seconds of her that he saw.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed reading these!  
> If you've got comments, criticisms (please don't be too harsh!), even things you'd like to see - please let me know.  
> Thank you!


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